Is it Prefold or fitted???

One of my friends and I both sew cloth diapers.  She does them just for her son, and I do them, as you know, for friends, family, and My Etsy Shop. 

In any case, we've often given each other diapers--sometimes store bought, sometimes sewn.  It's sort of fun to obsess about cloth diapers with her occasionally, share our new CD discoveries, and show off the adorable little things we've been making lately.

A couple of months ago, she found a pattern online for this oddly shaped prefold.  I don't remember if the pattern called for elastics or if it's something she added herself.  But I do know that she tweaked the pattern to make it more form fitting and that some of this idea is all her own.  In any case, she made about five of them, and I would put the snaps on for her, since I have the Kamsnaps pliers and she won't ever need enough snaps to justify buying a set for herself.  Despite the fact that I didn't need to be compensated, she offered me one of these adorable diapers made out of the most luscious bamboo velour and I was so in love with it, I just couldn't refuse!  It's not only soft, gentle, and fitted, they also dry quickly because  it's made of only one layer! Best of both worlds!

Check it out:

In our house we use it both covered and uncovered; for night and day.  I think it's currently my favorite diaper! :-D

(Pardon the picture quality.  I find it hard to chase my daughter down these days and get a good shot from her because she just doesn't sit STILL for anything!)

Tutorial: Adding snaps (or velcro) to prefolds

I'm going to do my best to attempt a snapping prefold tutorial, so bear with me :-D  There are no patterns I feel I can give you here, because where you place your snaps (or velcro) depends on the size of your baby and how you fold your prefold.

First, you want to fold your prefold onto your baby using the fold you normally prefer to use.  This can work with the angel fold, twist, or the jelly roll.

Take a pencil and mark the place where the back of the diaper overlaps on the front of the diaper.  If you noticed, I simply marked a square on both places--that gives me an area where my closures can safely go.  (Don't worry, these markings should come out in the wash.  However, if for some reason they don't, no worries! You're kids gonna poop on them anyway ;-P) Notice, that since I'm putting this prefold on a baby with a smaller rise, the back is folded down.  If you have a bigger baby, then folding down in the back is not necessary.  (I've altered the following photos slightly so you can see my pencil marks better)

Within the squares I've drawn, I need to decide where my snaps will go.  I use snaps from Kamsnaps.com and attach them with a $27 pair of snap pliers which I love.  I love Kamsnaps, but I think other places sell snap pliers and snaps as well so you can shop around.  All that just to say, you don't have to break the bank getting an $80 snap press.   If I'm using velcro, then I'll simply attach squares of hooks to the back closures within the squares, and strips of loops to the front panels--only on the ends--within the squares.  With snaps, it's a bit more complicated since you need to measure to make sure that your snaps are all equidistant, but you're basically going to put your studs on the back flaps and your sockets on the front panel.

Once you've measured where your snaps will go, simply add your snaps.  Add the studs to the back and the sockets to the front.  I like to add a few more to the outer edge of the front panel to leave room for growth.

I also like to add some stud snaps facing the opposite direction so that when my baby gets taller, I can unfold the back flap and continue to use the prefold.  When I unfold it, the snaps facing the opposite direction turn away from baby's skin so they never dig in.  This also means that I can use the twist fold as another option.

Here's the prefold looking at it from both the back and the front once all the snaps are in their proper places.  If you click on the picture, you'll get a bigger view so you can investigate it more if you need to.

Here's the prefold snapped a couple of ways:
1. The Jelly Roll with the back flap unfolded

2. The Twist with the back flap unfolded:

3. Angel Fold with the back flap folded down:

4. Angel Fold with the back flap unfolded for taller babies:

Here it is on Bunny:

If you want to try something really awesome, you can add elastics to get a tighter fit around the legs and contain the poop better.  I do this with the angel fold only.  You can either use another diaper to draw the elastic lines or you can fold the diaper the way you would with the angel fold and just draw a line along the fold that curves around the leg.  This is what the diaper will look like flat when the elastic is added:

Once the elastic is in, just fold like so, making sure to follow the line of the elastic, then pull the back sides out and snap it.

I don't have a picture of the snapped prefold with elastics on Bunny yet because she was napping when I took these pictures, but here it is modeled on her life sized baby doll who is about as big as she was when she was 6-9 months old.

So that's it! I hope you find this useful and easy to understand.  Let me know if there's something I can clarify for you!

CLOSED-Bum Covered Diapers Build-Your-Own-Fitted Review and Giveaway-CLOSED

Recently, Bum Covered Diapers had a sweet coupon code for $5 off any order that included a diaper. Because I'm a cheapskate, I used that $5 to buy a Build-Your-Own Fitted Diaper that was on sale for only $5. I paid $1.99 for shipping and not a cent for the diaper.  It was a sweet deal and I was happy.

When I got the diaper, I was very pleased.  It was thick, well made, soft, and pretty. I was worried at first that it had velcro closures as the only option, since Bunny loves to undo her velcro, but the closures are so sturdy that even I have a tough time getting them open--which is a very good thing!

So, I contacted Melissa at Bum Covered Diapers and asked if she'd be willing to give one of these sweet little, customizable diapers away to one of my readers, and she gladly agreed. 

Here is what she says about these particular diapers:

"These fitted diapers are made exactly the way you want them! You choose the flannel print for the outside. We put two layers of flannel and a heavy soaker pad on the inside. We can create a custom diaper especially for your little one. You choose outside print, the soaker material, and the inside fabric! (The colors and designs pictured give you an idea of the fabric we have, but we can get almost any color or design you request...your choices are in no way limited to what you see here!)

"These diapers will require a waterproof cover. Plastic pants will do, or PUL covers like Thirsties, or Bummis Wraps will work fine. We do not have covers available at this time but hope to carry Thirsties covers in the very near future!

"Because we are using new patterns to sew these diapers, we're offering them at a LOW price. In return, we hope that you would give us your feedback on the style, fit, absorbency, etc.

"Please allow at least 1 week for us to sew and ship your custom diaper orders. Larger orders may take longer to complete."

Now, let me tell you what I love about them. 

FIT
My daughter seems to be between sizes right now.  She weighs in at just under 21 lbs so to be safe, I ordered a size Large, which should fit babies who weigh between 21 and 26 lbs.  The diaper is slightly large on her--which I should have anticipated, and the leg fit is a bit roomy.  The waist, however fits great.  
 The diaper also seems to be the tiniest bit bulky on her because I ordered the large size.  Based on the cut of the diaper, however, I feel that if I had ordered a medium, the diaper would fit her just fine, and wouldn't be bulky at all. 

ABSORBENCY
The amount and type of absorbency in this diaper is all up to you.  You can choose from among three different types of absorbent fabrics--flannel, microfiber, or terrycloth.  I chose flannel because it was the cheapest option and I'm cheap.  But it's also an extremely absorbent option.  My daughter, who is a frequent wetter, not a heavy one, will pee a couple of times before I notice that she's wet because it just absorbs so much.  As it is washed, flannel gets a little stiff which makes it more absorbent but it's still gentle and soft against your baby's skin. 

PRICE
For me, the price was right.  Even if I hadn't had a coupon, the sale price of $5 was a reasonable price for a diaper, and it came with a microfleece, stay-dry insert as well.  At a new regular starting price of only $6, the diaper is still an amazing steal!  Choosing to add different fabrics will increase your price by small increments.  But still, if you buy a 3XL diaper with the most expensive materials that BCD offers, your diaper will still only be $10.  That is a very good! Since this price is introductory, it won't stay this low for long, so if you want to snatch them while they're inexpensive, I'd suggest stocking up on these diapers very soon!

QUALITY
Since I'm a diaper sewer myself, I know what to look for when it comes to diaper quality.  The pictures on the BCD website don't do this diaper justice. It is beautiful and very well made and I'm extremely pleased with the quality.  

CLOSURES
The diapers come with hook and loop closures.  I wasn't too excited about that prospect at first since my daughter is an expert at taking these off so I was planning on removing them and adding my own snaps, but the closures on this fitted diaper are surprisingly strong and not only does my daughter have difficulty opening them, but I am happy to discover that I do as well. My only complaint about the closures is that the laundry tabs aren't as strong as the applix on the front of the diaper and the tabs seem to come apart in the wash and catch on my other diapers. 

WASHING
I wash this diaper the same as I wash all of my other diapers--a cold rinse, followed by a hot wash, and another cold rinse.  I dry it in the machine twice until it's completely dry and ready for use.  I don't line dry any fitted diapers or AIOs because it takes too long so I can't attest to the exact amount of time that would require. I think it's easy to wash and very durable. 

CHOICES
Besides the different choices in materials, you also have a couple of great choices of prints and colors! I really liked my choice of fashion flower because the print is bold and bright.  My friend bought one of these fitteds in a soft yellow color which is also very nice.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this diaper.  It's soft, pretty, quality, and very absorbent.  It's definitely a diaper I would buy again if I needed more diapers :-D

So, at such a good price and with such great quality, I'm sure you want to go out and get some of your own! And while you're at it, you can try to win one here too :-D  Melissa is generously offering one of these build-your-own-fitteds to any of my readers from the United States or Canada.  What do you need to do to win?

MANDATORY ENTRY (Please include your email in every comment):
1. Go to bumcovereddiapers.com and look at the Make-Your-Own-Fitted-Diapers.  Then come back and tell me which print you would like to have.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:
2.  Like Bum Covered Diapers on Facebook. (1 entry)
3. Like Cloth Diaper Mommy on Facebook.  (1 entry)
4. Follow Bum Covered Diapers' blog.(1 entry)  
5. Follow my blog. (1 entry)
6. Subscribe to Bum Covered Diapers newsletter.  (1 entry)
7. Blog about this giveaway and link the post in your comment.  (3 entries)
8. Announce the giveaway on Twitter and link the post in your comment (1 entry per day).
9. Follow me on Twitter @Clothdiapermomm (1 entry)
10.  Buy any product from Bumcovereddiapers.com and include your order number in your comment. (5 entries)


This giveaway is open until Wednesday, March 23 at midnight EST.

New in the Shop

Another diaper...

I made this one with my new machine and I don't have a walking foot yet, so there are puckers in the inner layer of fabric.  Because of that, I lowered the price of this one $.50.

And I'm trying something new:

...and it's also made from upcycled Tees.